Sponsor

Sponsor

Second explosion at stricken Japan nuke plant

SOMA, Japan (AP) — The second hydrogen explosion in three days
rocked Japan's stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant Monday,
sending a massive column of smoke into the air and wounding six
workers. It was not immediately clear how much - if any - radiation
had been released.

The explosion at the plant's Unit 3, which authorities have been
frantically trying to cool following a system failure in the wake
of a massive earthquake and tsunami, triggered an order for
hundreds of people to stay indoors, said Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yukio Edano.

The blast follows a similar explosion Saturday that took place
at the plant's Unit 1, which injured four workers and caused
mass-evacuations.

Japan's nuclear safety agency said six workers were injured in
Monday's explosion but it was not immediately clear how, or whether
they were exposed to radiation. They were all conscious, said the
agency's Ryohei Shomi.

Earlier, Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the reactor,
said three workers were injured and seven missing.

Fukushima DaiichiAP Photo/The Yomiuri Shimbun, Yasushi Kanno

The reactor's inner containment vessel holding nuclear rods was
intact, Edano said, allaying some fears of the risk to the
environment and public. TV footage of the building housing the
reactor appeared to show similar damage to Monday's blast, with
outer walls shorn off, leaving only a skeletal frame.

More than 180,000 people have evacuated the area in recent days,
and up to 160 may have been exposed to radiation.

Earlier Monday, pressure had jumped inside Unit 3, forcing the
evacuation of 21 workers. But they returned to work after levels
appeared to ease.

Associated Press journalists felt the explosion in the
tsunami-devastated port town of Soma, some 25 miles (40 kilometers)
north of the reactor. They reported feeling the faint rumble a
blast and the ground shaking.

At the time, sirens were wailing as rescue workers were in the
midst of evacuating all those in the city to high ground due to a
tsunami warning. That turned out to be a false alarm.

Smoke ascends over an industrial area as flames are seen in Sendai, northern Japan, Saturday, March 12, 2011. Japan launched a massive military rescue operation Saturday after a giant, quake-fed tsunami killed hundreds of people and turned the northeastern coast into a swampy wasteland, while authorities braced for a possible meltdown at a nuclear reactor.AP Photo/Itsuo InouyeView full galleryA woman reacts amidst debris caused by Friday's massive earthquake and the ensuing tsunami, in Natori, northern Japan Sunday, March 13, 2011.AP Photo/Asahi Shimbun, Toshiyuki TsunenariWhite smokes rises into the air in the badly damaged town of Yamada in Iwate prefecture on March 12, 2011 a day after a massive 8.9 magnitude quake and tsunami hit the region. An explosion at a Japanese nuclear plant triggered fears of a meltdown on March 12, after the massive earthquake and tsunami left more than 1,000 dead and at least 10,000 unaccounted for.YOMIURI SHIMBUN/AFP/Getty Images